"But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the
first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and
said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to
the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and
went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say
unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That
the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him
not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye
had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him". The first son said that he would do his father's will; but the second son did it, even after he said he wouldn't...
In
verse 28 of our parable, chapter 21 of Matthew, Jesus asks the
question: 'What do you think?'. I wonder what you think: two sons, and
to the first son his father says: 'Go, work in my vineyard'. The first
son's answer is: 'I will not', but after he gave that negative answer,
Jesus said, he changed his mind and he went and worked in his father's
vineyard. Then the father came to the second son, and said the same:
'Go, work in my vineyard'. His answer was: 'I go, sir', but when he
thought about it he decided not to go. Now here is the question that
Jesus posed to His listeners: which of these two did his father's will?
Those who listened intently gave the right answer, and they answered:
'Number one, the son who said 'I will not go', but in the end changed
his mind and went and worked in his father's vineyard'. Now the
conclusion that Jesus gave to this parable is very clear: 'Truly', He
said, 'publicans', tax collectors, 'and harlots', those who were
despised sinners of the day, 'go into the kingdom of God before you'.
The 'you' He was speaking to were the religious moralists, the
Pharisees and Scribes of His day.
Now here's the point to Jesus'
parable, and it's important we don't miss it: one son, the first son,
said that he would do his father's will; but the second son did it,
even after he said he wouldn't. Now there are two truths that I want to
labour on tonight in the time that is left, that we can derive from
this parable. The first is this: with God, what you do is more
important than what you say. Here we have it clearly taught by the Lord
Jesus: your words might be empty and meaningless, but your actions will
speak louder than words. Just as a picture paints a thousand words, so
do actions. What Jesus was doing as He spoke to many religious
hypocrites, was He exposed how they used religious language. They
practised religious ritual, but they did not do God's will. On another
occasion, in Matthew 15:8, Jesus put it like this: 'This people honour
me with their lips; but their heart is far from me'. It doesn't matter,
tonight, what your lips say - what matters is whether or not you do the
will of God. The very people who accepted John the Baptist and his
message were the irreligious, the moral outcasts, the despised and
rejected of mankind. They were the ones who, when they heard God's
word, repented and believed...
The second point that we get
clearly from this parable is: what you do now is more important than
what you have done in your past. Whether we are talking in relation to
sins that you have committed in days gone by, or whether we're speaking
specifically of your relationship to God in the past, or how you've
reacted towards this gospel good news message - Jesus is telling us
that what has passed into history matters little in comparison to what
you do now with God, with your sin, with Jesus Christ the Saviour.
Jesus gives us an example so that we don't miss His point. He tells
these Jews that they had John the Baptist, and he came to them with the
truth of God, and the religious people rejected him - they did not
change their minds about their sin and about God's word - and yet the
very people who accepted John the Baptist and his message were the
irreligious, the moral outcasts, the despised and rejected of mankind.
They were the ones who, when they heard God's word, repented and
believed.
Now let me ask you tonight: what is your reaction to
their reaction, the reactions of these two sons? Which son, I wonder,
are you like tonight? The father's command was given to these two men:
'Go, work in my vineyard today' - and it's identical, almost, to the
gospel invitation and command that is given. God tells us that we are
to repent of our sins and believe the gospel. Now the command that was
given by the father to these two sons has two emphatic imperatives in
it, that means that simply that there was immediate obedience required
- and that is exactly the same with this message of good news. There is
obedience required, Acts 17 verse 30: 'God commands all men everywhere
to repent' - that means to turn from your sin, to put your faith in the
Christ that died for sinners, and to spend the rest of your life
following Him and obeying Him. The Jews had all the prophets who came
to them, and then John the Baptist, and now the Christ of God - but
they wouldn't listen to God's command, they wouldn't obey it. My
question to you tonight is: have you obeyed His command to repent and
believe the gospel?
Now the first reaction of the first son was
rebellion, but then the wonder is that that rebellion turned into
repentance. He said: 'I will not go', and then when he thought about it
he decided he would go, and he went. That simply pictures, I believe,
the person who doesn't measure up to religious claims and codes. I'm
speaking of people who perhaps don't have very high moral standards,
and because of that they feel: 'Well, religion isn't going to be my
lifestyle'. Maybe by religious people, or even by society at large,
these individuals are rejected as outcasts. Man-made moral systems of
ethics, they are outside of them because they can't reach the standard.
Consequently people like this are completely turned off religion of
every colour and hue in the spiritual spectrum - simply because they
feel that they don't fit in. There are immoral, or what spiritual
religions would call 'sinful'. So they say: 'I will not, I will not!'.
I
wonder is that you tonight? This is what I want you to notice, just
like this first son, this rebellion in his heart turned to repentance
when he realised that it is possible to encounter forgiveness. When
rebellious people realise that the grace of Christ accepts sinners, and
cleanses sinners, changes and transforms sinners; and realise that even
though dead religion rejects them, Christ receives them - they are more
ready, people like this, to turn from their sins than those who are
religious! Some of them can't wait to turn from the sin that is
destroying their life, the sin that is going to damn their soul, and
turn to Jesus and be saved and changed. I wonder what your impression
of the gospel is? Is it like this first son, initially you think:
'Well, this couldn't apply to me', or 'I would never ever be able to
fit into that groove. I mustn't have the religious gene. My personality
is not predisposed to all of this I see and hear around me'. If that's
the message you're getting, you're getting the wrong message! The
message is that this gospel is for sinners, this gospel is for the
immoral, this gospel is for those who fall short of the glory of God -
because this gospel is the gift of repentance that is given to men and
to women who will come to Christ. That is what Jesus bought when He
shed His blood on the cross, and bore the penalty of our sins: He
bought for mankind the ability to change. Is there a barrier that's
holding you back from coming to Jesus, because you feel that you just
can't give up that thing, or that person, or that trait in your life?
You
see, we don't have that - no matter what reforming organisations or
institutions might say. When you think about it: what does the
alcoholic, or the homosexual, or the violent individual, or the
gambler, or the addict - whatever his addiction may be - what do they
want most of all when they hit rock bottom? It's to change, but they
can't! That's what all sinners need, and that's what all sinners would
want! That's why some dabble in religion: to change, but it doesn't
change any. It might deal with the outward symptoms of sin, but what
they need is the repentance that God gives as a gift to those who
believe in Christ. What people need is to come to Jesus, realising that
they can't change themselves but He can change them - if they're
willing to turn from their sin, He will work that change in their
lives. Do you know this tonight? Is there a barrier that's holding you
back from coming to Jesus, because you feel that you just can't give up
that thing, or that person, or that trait in your life? Listen to me
tonight: 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation', the Bible
says, 'old things are passed away; behold, all things become new'.
The
devil, Jesus said in John 10:10, is a thief who comes only to steal, to
kill, and destroy lives - but Jesus says: 'I came that they might have
life, and have it abundantly'. You see, my friend, if you're a rebel -
someone who has always said 'I will not' to the gospel message - you're
at an advantage, believe it or not, over religious folk. You've got the
only qualification that you need to be saved: that is the
acknowledgement of your sin. You know you need to change, yet
self-righteous religious people hypocritically think that they have
nothing to change - but if you're here tonight, and you have the
humility to admit you're wrong, oh, I plead with you, come to Jesus!
Change your mind about your sin, believe in Him and He is able to
change you! This man is proof positive, he said 'I will not', and then
he went.
Here's the second son and his reaction - not rebellion
and then repentance, but rather appearance but then indifference. He
was like the Pharisees and company, the religious establishment of the
day. They were scrupulous observers of outward religious form, yet they
were ignorant of faith and mercy and the love of God. They gave the
appearance of doing what God says - 'I go', the second son says - in
other words, they were the type of people that do right things, and
might have right feelings, religious affections, aspirations; but the
problem is: they would not do the very thing God had specifically asked
of them. They went not.
What has God asked of you? Well, on one
occasion some people - religious folk in Jesus' day - came to Him, and
in John 6 we read that they said to Him: 'What must we do to be doing
the works of God?'. Jesus answered: 'This is the work of God, that you
believe in Him whom He', God, 'has sent'. 'This is the work: believe in
me', Jesus says, 'God has sent me - that's what you have to do'. But
these people, that's maybe too simple: they want to climb religious
ladders, they want to break will boundaries of what they can achieve
for God - is that you? It's too simple, all this 'slate being wiped
clean'. It's not simple, it cost the blood of Christ. I'll tell you
this: it's the only thing that saves, because you can't save yourself
as a fallen sinner - the only way you can be saved is if you relinquish
all claims to earn or to merit God's salvation, and put your total and
utter dependence in Jesus. Anything else is a form of godliness without
the power! The only way you can be saved is if you relinquish all
claims to earn or to merit God's salvation, and put your total and
utter dependence in Jesus. Anything else is a form of godliness without
the power!
Is that what you have, like this second son? You have
an appearance, but in your heart there is an indifference towards
Christ and His gospel. Politeness is often concealing the darkest form
of Christ-rejection in the heart. Some of the loveliest, most civilised
individuals in our society are just like this second man. The first man
was rude and curt: 'I will not' - this man wasn't, he said 'I will'.
This is the type of person who says: 'Oh, I know what you're saying, I
tend to agree with you. Oh, I'll come to church, and maybe some day
I'll come to Jesus' - but this man's actions spoke louder than his
polite words! You see, what men and women - whether religious or
irreligious - need to come to terms with is that the heart of
everyone's problem is the problem of the heart.
Jesus said: 'Out
of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality,
theft, false witness, slander; these are what defile a person: but to
eat with unwashen hands does not defile anyone'. In other words,
religious rites and rituals will only cleanse the body, but the dirt on
the body is not the problem that keeps men out of heaven, it's the dirt
on the soul, the sin in the heart! Jesus is saying in this parable:
whether you're a prostitute, or whether you're a priest, your heart is
full of sin! That's why everybody needs Christ. The issue is not
whether you've killed, whether you've raped, whether you've abused,
whether you've murdered, whether you've stolen - that's not the issue,
my friend. The seed of all of those sins is in every heart, mine
included - and unless you see that, you will never be saved!
The
problem is: many don't want to be known as sinners, religious people in
particular. Therefore they can't receive Jesus Christ. They are
religious in appearance, but indifferent to their sin, indifferent to
the judgement upon their sin, indifferent to the Saviour who can save
them from their sin - but Jesus' emphasis was not so much on what these
religious people had done in the past, whether good or bad, but on what
they had not done. They had done all these mighty works in religious
standards, but they had not believed on the One whom God had sent. That
means it doesn't matter what you do tonight, or have done religiously
speaking, you can be baptised and catechised, a paying member of the
church; you can try and keep the ten commandments, read your Bible
every day, pray to the Lord morning noon and night - but if you've not
repented, if you've not believed the gospel, if you're not converted,
you're like this man. You have an appearance, but you're indifferent
and you're disobedient to the command of the gospel.
Now the
point of the Lord Jesus' parable comes to us in even greater force when
we see that the crowd that He was speaking to, just like this crowd
here tonight, gave Him the right answer to His question. Which of these
sons did the father's will? They said right away: 'The first' - they
give the right answer, but they failed to apply the answer to their
lives! Huh, people in Northern Ireland are notorious for this, for
having all the right answers, but drawing all the wrong conclusions.
What am I talking about? People say: 'Yes, there are sinners in this
world, those sinners need to be saved - but I'm not one of them!'. They
have the right answer - there are sinners, and sinners need to be saved
- but they're not including themselves in the company of those who do
need salvation. Others will say: 'Well, yes, war criminals like Hitler
and Stalin, and abusers will go to hell; but I've never done anybody
any harm, and how could a God of love send me to hell?'. They have the
right answer, there are sinners who are on their way to hell; but the
wrong conclusion: they are not one of them. Who beats you in coming
to Jesus? Who beats you in repenting and believing? The Bible says the
publicans and the prostitutes beat the religious people of their day...
My
friend, can you - I'm asking you now - can you come to realise that you
are as great a sinner as anyone, for there is no difference: for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Romans 3 verse 23. Ah,
but wait a minute, there is a difference - you say, 'But the Bible has
just there is no difference!', aye, there is. Jesus says there is one
difference: the immoral, that is those who seem to see their sin
greater than the religious, they were quicker to repent, quicker to
believe in Jesus. In other words, the message of this parable of Jesus
was: it's not where you start that's important, but where you finish;
not what you've done in your past that matters, but what you do with
Jesus now.
Now let me ask you as I conclude this message: who
beats you in coming to Jesus? Who beats you in repenting and believing?
The Bible says the publicans and the prostitutes beat the religious
people of their day. The prodigal son who took his father's inheritance
and spent it on wine, women and song in the far country; he came home
to the father's house, and the father received him. Does he beat you?
You mightn't have done what he has done. What about the girl caught in
the act of adultery, and the religious men bring her before Jesus
wanting Him to give the right to stone that girl - and Jesus said to
her: 'I don't condemn you, go and sin no more'. Has she beaten you to
Christ? You've maybe never committed adultery, but she's with Him. What
about the Samaritan woman who was married five times, and the one she
was living with, living in sin with, was not her husband - yet she came
to Christ. You may be in a stable relationship, but she has beaten you
to Jesus. The demon-possessed man of Gadara is falling at the feet of
Jesus, and you're still thinking about it! He had a legion of demons in
him, and he's at Jesus' feet before you.
What about the woman of
ill repute washing Christ's feet with her tears, and drying them with
her hair. Maybe you're a wee bit religious like those around, who were
watching and saying: 'Does He not know what kind of woman she is?'. He
did know, she knew what kind of woman she was, but they didn't realise
that it didn't matter - because what was important was not what she had
done in the past, but what she was doing now with Christ. She was doing
the will of God, falling repentant at the feet of Jesus. You see,
that's why Christ died, that's why Jesus went to the cross: that
sinners might repent and be changed. Listen to Romans 5: 'For while we
were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one
will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good
person one would dare even to die - but God shows his love for us in
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us'. 'So then', Romans
9 says, 'it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has
mercy'. Oh, can you see this?
'I know a place where sins are washed away, I know a place where night is turned to day; Burdens are lifted, Blind eyes made to see; There's wonder-working power in the blood of Calvary'.
That's why William Cowper could write 'There is a fountain filled with blood':
'The dying thief rejoiced to see Such fountain in his day; And there may I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away'.
You
know Cowper wrote another hymn, it's not as well known as 'There is a
fountain', here's how one of its verses goes, and it's based on this
parable – listen:
'See'st thou yon harlot wooing all she meets, The worn-out nuisance of the public streets Herself from morn till night, from night to morn, Her own abhorrence, and as much your scorn: The gracious shower, unlimited and free, Shall fall on her, when heaven denies it thee'.
We
Like to Thank Pastor David Legge
for this message
